The Portland daily press., 1887-08-08
THE SEASON AT KINEo.
A Resort for Boating, Driving and
Mountain Climbing.
A Party OF Young Ladies "shoot''
Moose River Rapids.
Indians Ply the Paddles and Megan-
tic Workmen Wonder.
Correspondence Of the PHEss.l ]

| lightful trips, or day excursions, that one
can take from Mt. Kineo. Ever since my
| childhood, 1t has been one Of my dreams TO
| visit this grand lake, one Of the most charm
| ing places in Maine, but / really never ex-
| pected TO do so. We left Portland at noon,
| via the Maine Central, and had a very pleas
ant, easy ride TO Bangor, where we spent the
night; leaving at f25 the next morning. our
route lay along the Piscataquis river. The
road Is a fine piece Of engineering over the
mountains, twisting and turning, mounting
| higher and higher, till one is able to look
down, down, down, on the tops Of the tallest
| trees. The train winds In and out like an
immense serpent, and for long distance
| you can see from your window, in the middle
| car, first, the engine, then, glancing bach, the
last car. and sometimes both at once. I've
been told that at one time the Maine Central
expected TO buy the Piscataquis railroad, but
now that there Is q probable connecting Of
this road with the Megantie and direct COM
munieation with the Pacific, 1t will not pass
into other hands We missed the easy cars
and nice appointments Of the Maine Central,
with the genial pleasant manners which the
employees of that road extend to the tourist
At the terminus we took dinner, and then
waited on the wharf for the steamer Re
DttCd, Which, was tdlC. lHC bWO oNi
up the lake was grand and beautiful. We
passed SQuaw Mountain, also the "Speneers"
and Lily Bay. Mt. Kine0 is concealed q
greater part Of the way up by the largely
wooded islands, until the steamer comes out
into the broadest part OF the lake, when IL
suddenly rises into view, and by its peculiar
shape Is at once recognized by all, and hailed
with delight Having reached the ho-
tel, unpacked. and refreshed ourselves with
a good bath, we inspected the house admired
fha hn fhrnnUh
dance hall, and adjoining reception rooms
and parlor, finding everything attractive and
comfortable.
But 1t Is not my intention to write about
the house or people have met--it is ''Kineo"
and the wonderful views and excursions that
so impress me. The first morning we drove
through the woods on blackboard about
mile and half to pebble beach" and found
ourselves directly at the foot OF the Gun, 75O
feet high. Looking up ITS precipitous sides,we
fully realized the grandeur Of 1t, and agreed
with the guide books that IL was "the mon
arch OF the Lake" The beach itself Is fas-
cinating, and spent some time picking up
tiny pebbles of various colors and shapes,
digging down with my hands to find the
prettiest, for these lines kept running In my
mind:
| Errors like straws upon the surface blow;
| He who would seek for pearls must dive below"
and although found no pearls was repaid
| for the digging. The drives and walks are
more. One morning my guide
| PADDLED ME ROUND KINEo,
distance Of four or five miles, and sat di-
rectly under its overhanging top, looking up
| way uphill my poor neck could stand
the strain no longer. But l have
| enjoyed most the ''quickwater'' as
nv guide calls 1t, Of Moose river.
A party Of us. in three canoes, with Indian
guides. left the h0teerr early one morning 70
Hshoot the rapids" They, rule, VIII
only take one person in a canoe, ~ on tHls
occasion supple Jack" consented % ~ssss.te
| two yong girls in his ''birch," as they didn't
weigh much" but "BnekshOt" and Louis"
had only one, besides the lunch, dishes, fry
kettles, &c. We padded across the lake to
the mouth Of the river. There we eneoun-
| tered "bOom" of logs, with but small
| passage, In an awkward place. for US to pass
through. 1t caused little excitement and
| some talk, and called forth the remark that
Jack could turn his canoe in pint dipper."
| The river Is not wide, and the trees grow TO
| its very edge; tall pines and naples bend
| over your heads, while now and then you
| pass under fallen tree, and the long. gray
| ish green moss, which elings to its branches,
hangs down within your reach. We looked
| In vain to see deer or moose feeding among
| the lily pads, but all we saw for the day be-
| sides the fish and various birds, was little
striped squirrel, that came at dinner time and
| having no fear of us, until we actually had 10
| drive him away from the apple pie. Part
| way up the river the paddles were exchanged
| for 'settin'" poles, and we found ourselves
ahead Of me, and the sight was one Of the
most picturesque have ever seen. The
INDIAN GUIDE STANDING IN THE STERN
Of each boat, planting his long pole among
the rocks, sometimes on one side, and then
an tha nfh xxhfI Ia. tba ali of he
point against the stones, and the sudden
sweep through the water, blended with the
excitement and novelty Of the situation will
never be forgotten. Once or twice, the mans
strength battling with the rush of waters,
| brought us almost to a stand-stlll, and
| though 1t only lasted for second found
| myself wondering which would be vict0ri-
| Gus, and II We swung around should we be
swept down by the merciless river. The
1 white guides take you only part way up, and
then require you to walk till you get above
the dam, saying the water Is too high. or
/ some such excuse, but the Indian knows
| every inch OF the ground and pilots you safe
ly over 1t all, through the dam and into the
"Brassua Lake" where we padded to the
| opposite shore, and the men built a fire and
i cooked our dinner. Such q dinnerl How
| good it tastedl After we had aDpease6
| our appetite we padded up MISERY
| Stream" short distance to fish. We cast
the fly. but caught no trout; some Megantie
I workmen passed us In batteau, long,
| heayy-looking boat, sharp at both ends, and
exchanged greetings in broken English with
i the guides.
| we had planned for an afternoons fish
ing, but the distant thunder warned US OF an
| approaching storm, so we put up rods and
| wrapped our gossamers round us, ready to
| shoot the rapids as we all expected a wet
II ting. Prior TO our departure one
Ittiie boy at the hotel learning our
| plans for the excursion looked up
| with the remark, "Does your guide carry a
gun?" why, no, replied his brother, Il
can't see what we'd want Of one" After a
| you shoot the rapids% was the innocent
| query. However, we managed to do 1t with
out gun. and nobody got hurt. Through
the dam the guide simply steers with the
/ paddle, and the canoe rnshes through the
water,inuch as chip boat does in the spring
| when the boys sail them along the sides Of
| the streets. We were close by the encamp-
ment of the Megantic men. and so had plenty
i OF spectators. ,-a..
When we reached the rapids, we took the
middle of the river, and to our inexperienced
| eye, sitting there In that frail boat, amidst
the wild running waters, IL seemed as though
| each eddy was likely to suck us in and whirl
| US on regardless of our viii; but mol the
pole was planted In the bed Of the river, and
the strength Of the men held us. back; we
tossed so gradually here and there that we
were In still water almost before one real
| lied II, and called out, "Ohl let's turn back
and begin again" But itisn't so much fun
for the guide. He pulls up TO the shore, takes
of his hat, wipes his forehead, and draws
long bTeaths. each one of which tells its own
story though he makes no remark.
| After resting and getting n cool drink Of
fresh water, we were ready TO continue, and
as the thunder still rolled and the black
clouds were gathering, we felt little impa-
tient to get under cover. We found the lake
very rough, with high wind blowing, and
took In many
4 LAP-FULL OF WATER
before we landed. 1t was good trial OF
nerves, as we had to sit still and take II all,
for a sudden move either way might upset
US so, after the first drenching. we didn't
seem to mind. Our friends were getting
anxious and watching for us, so In spite Of
wind and water we waved our handkercheis
| To those on shore, and came In with "colors
living" We looked dshevelled as we walked
| uf 10 the hotel, and but for our faces. which
were beaming with the fun we'd had, any
4 one would have said 1t was a sorry party.
The rain came down as we entered the house,
and many were the rejoicings that we had
not received an extra ducking. 5.